When the World Turns White
by poeticgrace
Summary: Feelings are confronted in the midst of a snow storm. One Shot.


Winter time meant one thing in Greendale, Colorado – Snow and lots of it. Annie Edison had always loved snow because it made the entire world seem perfect and pristine, if only for a moment. Before the big SUVs and muddy boots and everything else turned her winter wonderland into a messy slush, Annie coveted those few precious hours when everything was white and clean. It made her feel like everything was starting over again, a fresh white canvas where anything in the world could happen. For a girl like Annie, a blank canvas was very appealing.

The campus was a virtual ghost down on Thursday afternoon, with several inches of powder already falling across the city. Snow was forecast throughout the night, but Annie wasn't worried about getting home. There wasn't much to look forward about going home to an empty apartment, watching bad television for a few hours and falling asleep in a cold bed all alone. At least in the college library she could pretend that she was stranded here incidentally and not on purpose. She could complain with her fellow classmates, their noses pressed to the window as they watched the flakes falling outside the door.

Annie always came prepared for snow days. She had packed her best snow boots and ample food in a tote bag, which she stored in her assigned locker in the student gym that adjoined the library. If she had to, she could walk home. She had done it last winter with a couple girls who shared an apartment a few streets over from hers. And if she didn't want to head home, she could always stay with Abed in the dorm or walk a few blocks over to Shirley's house. She was sure either one of them would welcome a guest.

"Wow, it's really coming down out there, huh?"

Annie turned around in surprise, her face lighting up as her eyes landed on her companion. "Jeff, what are you doing here?" she asked in delight. She tucked her hair behind her ear without even thinking, wondering for a moment if her knit tights were too dorky for a guy as slick as Jeff Winger. Shaking off the insecurity, she looked up at her friend with a joyful smile. "I figured you left campus hours ago."

"Snow plows blocked in my Lexus," he grumbled, rolling his eyes before shrugging. "AAA was supposed to make it out, but the highways are pretty messed up. What are you doing here?"

"I got caught up in research upstairs, and when I came down, the roads were like this." She didn't mean to lie to Jeff, but it slipped easily from her ruby lips. It was kind of pathetic to admit that she had stranded herself on purpose so that she didn't have to be alone. "I guess we're gonna be here awhile, huh?"

"I guess," he agreed reluctantly. "I guess we better go snag a couch before all the good ones get taken." Jeff led Annie to the study area up on the second floor, choosing a nice black leather couch near the large set of windows that overlooked the quad. Tossing his bag on the floor, he collapsed on the sofa and put his feet up on the table. "Take a load off, Edison."

It had been awhile since Annie spent any real alone time with Jeff, not since the awkward moment in the blanket fort when the world had literally folded in on them. She had tried to avoid thinking about it for weeks, much as she had that long summer when she still believed that maybe that kiss actually meant something to him too. And just like that first day of school when he acted like nothing had happened, Jeff went on with their friendship as if that poignant moment had never happened. Annie sometimes wondered if she hadn't just made up the whole thing in her head.

"I love days like these."

"Days where you're stuck and can't do any of the million things you have to do?" he grumbled. Jeff wasn't looking at Annie as he spoke, his eyes fixed on the falling snow and his mouth permanently fixed in a prominent grimace. "Days where nothing goes like it's planned? Days where you are sure that you have the worst luck in the world?"

Annie smiled simply and shook her head. "No, days where the whole world turns white," she explained happily. Jeff looked at her as if she was crazy, something they were both quite used to. She was a little overly enthusiastic and had one time been qualifiably crazy. However, this Annie – grown-up, mature Annie – wasn't crazy. She was just grateful to be alive. "Days where the whole world starts again."

"Such an optimist," he retorted, patting her knee. Annie tried not to notice how his hand lingered or how the skin beneath his fingertips felt suddenly hot. Instead, she focused on the slight twinkle in his eyes as he tilted his head and genuinely smiled at her for the first time. "I suppose there are worse things."

"I suppose," she giggled. She thought momentarily about getting a book out to study or considered offering to quiz Jeff on the lit test she knew he had coming up. Instead, she pulled her knees up to her shin and curled into a ball. "It's kind of cozy here, don't you think?"

"It'd be cozier on my couch with a beer in my hand and a basketball game on the big screen, but since that's not a possibility, I guess that this is the next big thing." Jeff watched her for a moment, the way she truly did seem happy just sitting here and watching the snow with him. His mother once told him that true love was being truly content to be silent in someone's presence. He had never really understood what that meant until now. He wouldn't go as far as to say that he loved Annie, but sitting here with her like this now was probably the happiest he had been in months. "Annie, we never really talked about that night..."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and innocent. "Which night? The one where you kissed me – the night of the Tranny Dance? Or that evening at Night School? 'Cause there was more than one night, you know. In fact, I think there was the night of the debate tournament. And there was the night of Troy's birthday party when I caught you watching me at the bar. There are kind of a lot of nights now, Jeff, so which one are you talking about?"

"The first one? The second one? All of them?"

"Let's start with that first one," she said. She was surprised that he had even brought it up, but if Jeff was finally going to talk to her about this, Annie wasn't about to let her chance get away. "How could you kiss me like that and not call?"

Jeff had no good answer and told her as much. "I was selfish and scared and really suck at relationships," he told her truthfully. "I thought you were too young for me or maybe that I was too old or maybe just thought that I could use age as an excuse. I didn't go there that night thinking I was going to kiss you. I just heard you tell me that you were going to leave with that loser and then you didn't and I was just so happy to see you. I was caught between Britta and Slater and you just..."

"I just what, Jeff?"

"You showed up, looking all cute, and I just forgot about them," he said. He wasn't even trying to be charming then. It was just the truth – pure and unfiltered honesty, something that scared him more than anything in the world. "But then I remembered who I was and who you are and I freaked out. That's why I didn't talk to you about the night after the blanket forts. It's why I had to pat you on the head at the debate and hated watching you drink at the bar."

"So..."

It was strange to be talking like this. Usually Jeff was the one who was cool and calm, offering off the one or two-word reply. Instead, Annie had manipulated him into opening up, and he couldn't even be mad about it. "So I was scared."

"You were scared because you liked me." It wasn't a question but a statement. "And because you knew that I liked you." Another statement. "And that maybe this could mean something."

"Maybe."

"C'mon, Jeff," Annie pleaded softly, her voice sounding as childlike as she sometimes looked. Jeff couldn't bare to look up into her eyes because he knew they would just make her look even more like a Disney cartoon character. "Just tell me that you know this means something so that you can kiss me again."

"Who says I'm gonna kiss you?"

Annie arched her eyebrow and glared at him skeptically. "Puh-lease," she scoffed. "We both know that this is _so_ gonna happen."

"This?"

"Us, whatever."

"Oh, it is?" he asked stoically. "News to me."

"Hardly," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was so cute when she was impatient but determined with him. "Just say it Jeff. We could be spending our time kissing me instead of wasting it talking. Snow is very romantic, you know."

Jeff knew that he could make another joke because that would be the easy thing to do. He could turn his head and shoot off some sarcastic remark that would either hurt or anger her. He could fall into his comfort zone without ever fessing up to how he felt. Or he could reach across the sofa, take her small hand in his, lock eyes with her and say exactly what was in his heart.

"I had no idea how lame you were, Edison." Her face lit up as he squeezed her hand. "You know it does. Let's just leave it at that."

She thought for a moment before nodding her head resolutely. "Good enough," she allowed, scooting closer to him. "You can kiss me now."

So Jeff kissed Annie, good and completely until they both lost breath. Once they had regained their breaths, he kissed her some more. And when the snow let up and his car was freed from the snow drifts, he kissed her in the front seat of his warm car. Then he drove her home and kissed her for fifteen minutes in the parking lot before walking her up to her apartment to kiss her for another ten in front of her door. When she came downstairs the next morning so that he could drive her back to school, they kissed for a good twenty minutes before they made it to the college campus. And when the whole gang didn't believe that Jeff and Annie had finally figured it out, they kissed once more as proof that yeah, he liked her, and yeah, she liked him, and yeah, this definitely meant something.


End file.
